The Bloody Battle of Boketu Ridge

A poem goes:

“Strong winds sweep the iron armor, while northern bows sing in the sands.

Life and death are light as dust; together we brave the wild gale.”

During the Yongzheng reign, Xiaoceling, the Zunghar ruler’s eldest son, rebelled, hoping to seize the Khalkha grasslands and threaten the heartland of China. At Boketuo Ridge, the Eight Banners of the Beijing garrison were surrounded. Cao Yong received a mission in the face of danger, and from the surprise attack on East Mountain to the Battle of Chahan Shouer, the Qing army and the Zunghar forces clashed without pause as the situation changed by the moment. Amid the smoke and blood of the battlefield, Cao Yong’s fate became entwined with that of Torigana, the Zunghar Grand Princess. As they fought their way out and fled together, feelings quietly blossomed between them. The weighty duty to their homelands and the tenderness of love intertwine in a fiery legend of deep affection between enemies.